1 Reawakening (1/2)
”What is this...?” A muffled voice groaned out as the blurry vision of the darken skies above began to fade from light. ”How...?” The voice continued; deep crimson iris' glancing to the left as he heard a voice yet was incapable of understanding the words nor gaining any form of sight of the figure which only left a shadowy silhouette of someone running to his side. His lips parted again, yet not words peered forth. 'Oh...' The male seemed to speak to himself internally. 'So I lost...' He muttered inside of his mind as he closed his eyes. 'So that's what happened...' The male repeated himself; almost as if out of pity yet held some form of enlightenment to these words. ”Beginning the Reconstruction process... Obtaining present information...” A voice peered forth which caused the male to open his eyes only to see a dim light piercing through the darkness. The male would attempt to call out, yet nothing parted his lips.
”Data Obtained. User: Riyku Von Rosario. Present Age: Error! Incalculable. Reinstating Age to twenty-five. Beginning Body identification...” The voice seemed to peer from the dim light before him; becoming ever more vivid as it spoke. 'Another rebirth? This isn't like the last several times though... Oh, whatever...' The male's internal voice echoed throughout the darkness. ”Body data successfully obtained! Recreating preset for Body Structure... Completed! Gathering ability data...” A soft sigh mixed with a groan escaped his lips. He could no longer feel the cold wet of the ground; no instead it felt like he was just floating amass an empty space. ”Error! Ability data is too great to carry over. Select ten attunements...” Another groan escaped the male as the vivid light commanded him to select ten attunements.
'Just preselect whatever...' The male spoke into the darkness. ”Affirmative! Selecting ten personal attunements. Select personal abilities to carry over.” The voice would repeat in which the male repeated himself with a heavy sigh. 'Preselect whatever'. ”Affirmative! Ten personal abilities have been preselected. Gathering remaining needed data... Complete. User Riyku, select an affinity to finish completion.” The male's brow rose before he shook his head with a sigh. 'Pick whatever.' He seemed rather agitated with everything going on. ”Affirmative! Affinity, Attunements, and Abilities are all preselected based on the previous lifestyle. Beginning the rebirth process now.” The vivid light illuminated the darkness around the male after speaking such words which caused him to winch from the brightness. Although; once the illumination died down the sight of a clear blue sky with pure white clouds slowly making their way was before him. Adjusting his line of sight he happened to see a barbwire gate; of which he followed around before taking note of the cement he was standing upon. ”A building roof-top.” The male muttered to himself; his voice deep yet smooth and soothing to a natural.
”Correct!” A voice popped out of nowhere. ”Huh?” The male was taken by surprise thanks to the voice which instantly sent him into an alert state. ”Where are you?” The male inquired; as his body twisted left and right. ”I Apologize; User Riyku; I am inside of you. I will be your Operator during this present life.” The male's expression became... lax so to speak. This wasn't his first rodeo with voices speaking in his mind. The male exhaled a soft sigh before shaking his head. ”Operator? Well then, elaborate.” The male inquired in which the voice peered forth into his mind yet again. ”Of course. User Riyku; the place you are in is a different world; one far from your own. The timeline was also adjusted according to your previous lifestyle to make things a bit more difficult for you. Just in case you got any ideas.” The voice explained; something which the male knew of and nodded. ”Of course that would happen. I picked up I wasn't in that forsaken place anymore. This place is far too bright. First; who are you, then tell me the world I am in.” The male inquired yet again even if it sounded so demanding it was not.
”Well... I do not have a name. So you can call me Operator if you wish.” The voice proceeded to explain to the male who just sighed heavily in response. ”Then we'll figure it out later. Now the world, and what is going on.” The male pretty much repeated his earlier inquirement. ”Ah, yes. This world is known as Peccatum. The laws of society, politics, and populace work the same way as the previous world; with some exceptions.” The male's brow rose; ”exceptions?” He inquired as he shifted his weight onto his right heel while crossing his arms just above his abdominal area. ”Yes. The laws can be morphed in your favor as long as you continue to win.” The Operator explained. ”Win what?” The male asked out of curiosity. ”Anything. From fights to games like chess or poker.” The Operator replied in which the male released a light muse from his lips. ”Well then, I'll investigate upon that later. For now, tell me what is going on with my being.” The male stated in which the Operator responded; ”Of course, User Riyku. Different from your previous body which was made of nothing more than Binary Data; your new body is Cybernetic. It is a mixture of your Digital Attributes and Enhancements as well as a fleshy body. Which is simply known as Cybernetic Bodies. Of course; it is not to be mixed with cyborgs or nano-technology.” The Operator stated in which the male's brow rose while his eyes scouted around the area of the rooftop; as the Operator continued.
”Cybernetic Bodies possess what is known as a User Interface or UI for short. The UI is displayed upon your personal vision like a HUD which if you look at the upper left-hand corner you can see a green color bar and below it a purple color bar. Above the green color bar is your name, and alongside that will display many other things like negatives and positives that affect your body.” The male shifted his iris in the direction mention before noticing a grayed our bar below the purple one. ”What's that last bar?” The male inquired. ”Oh. That is your Form Duration Bar. In your previous life, you were able to partake of several different forms which adjusted your attributes, appearance, and affinities.” The Operator explained in which the male shook his head. ”Okay... So nothing is really new. It's the same.” The male would shrug in which the Operator would attempt to correct him. ”Negative. A cybernetic body allows you partake of fleshy desires and adjust your nerves system along with many other things. In addition to that; you can bleed and take damage like a normal body. However, the green bar will need to be depleted first or something will need to pierce through your vitals.” The male's brow rose in surprise. ”So it's like a shield? Although I am guessing the purple bar is more like a mana pool?” The male asked. ”In a way yes. The green bar acts as a shield that will absorb damage before you can be truly injured; however, the shield can be pierced through if the right weapon is used. The purple bar is similar to a Mana Pool; though it holds different functions than one; in addition to that it can be used to replenish your shield.” The Operator explained in which the male shook his head with a soft sigh.
”Alright, well I think I get the gist of it. Now then, what exactly are you?” The male inquired. In truth, he knew nothing of this ordeal; even though he was used to these sorts of things. Having an 'Operator' was new to him in a sense. ”I am your Digital Interface Operating System.” The voice poured into his mind; though the answer seemed to be more based on what he figured it was. ”So you are my personal A.I? Well... nothing new there.” The male muttered having cleared up his initial thought of what this Operator was; clearly, this wasn't his first rodeo with voices in his head let alone other 'souls' in his body. ”Now then, a name for you... A feminine voice; though an A.I.” The male mused lightly to himself in thought before eventually coming up with something. ”Got it. You will be named Coco.” The male stated. ”Coco.” The Operator rephrased it before seeming to accept it with a noise of delight. ”I am your personal Digital Interface Operating System; Coco.” The Operator Coco stated. ”Pleased to make your acquaintance. We are going to be together for quite some time.” She seemed to add in which the male mused lightly. ”Of course. Now then, More on this world and this building I am standing on. If you will.” The male inquired.
”Of course. This world is like I said similar to your old one; yet with exceptions to those who play Gambit's Dance. Which is a world-wide game where two parties can challenge one another.” Coco stated. The male would shift his weight onto the other heel as he unfolded his arms and let his hands slip into the pockets of black leather slacks. His eyes slowly closing as a sigh soft parted his lips. ”Yes, I remember. Tell me more about this game. More so what it holds, what challenges, and most of all what laws can be defied.” The male remarked. ”Of course. There are two kinds of people who participate in this game. The Gamers and Subscribers. The Gamers are those who challenge other Gamers and take part of Gambit's Dance. The Subscribers are those who tune into their favorite Gamer and support them with anything they can. From food to money; even emotional support as well. While they are not active in the game; they are extremely important to Gambit's Dance. Simply because they act as Witness' for the Challenge of Gamble.” Coco explained in which Riyku opened his eyes lightly to glance at the clear sky. ”Challenge of Gamble? I am assuming you are referring to the Game?” Riyku inquired. ”Yes.” Coco seemed to reply.
”Well, What of this Witness role? Is it so people are unable to cheat?” Riyku questioned as he rolled his shoulders around a bit feeling kind of stiff from all the standing around. ”Actually yes and no. You see; Cheating in Challenge of Gamble is only allowed if not caught. If you are caught you will be demoted and severely punished. However, the Watchers can actively support their Gamer during the 'Game'. With tips, words of encouragement and even ointments as well as other things.” Coco would explain in which Riyku seemed to understand every word of it as he watched the clouds effortlessly float by. ”Well, I am sure I do not wish to find out what this severe punishment would be. So then what of the 'Gamers'. How does the Challenge of Gamble work?” Riyku inquired.
”Ah! Yes. Those who are challenged to a Challenge of Gamble are known as Challenged. One of the rules states that the Challenged are allowed to decide any form of the game; from combat to simple coin-flips, unless they decide to release this to the Challenger.” Coco explained in which Riyku's brow perked up. ”Rules? Well, I guess everything has some kind of law to it.” The male mused lightly as he began to approach the fence a little ways away. ”Of course! The Rules are fairly simple. I'll put them on your Display while I go over them. You can always look at them later to by calling out to your portfolio from your UI.” Coco stated in which Riyku nodded in agreement while looking out over city-view he had. A simple semi-transparent tab with a list of rules displayed before him; even though the tab was slightly transparent Riyku was still able to read over it with ease.
”Alright!” Coco shouted before going over the list before them.
Rule number one: No one under the age of sixteen is allowed to be challenged.
Rule number two: Both parties of the Challenge of Gamble must present equal win to lose value, otherwise the Challenge will be canceled.
Rule number three: The Challenged is allowed to decline the Challenge of Gamble.
Rule number four: Under no circumstances is death permitted unless the Challenge of Gamble permits such.
Rule number five: Both parties from a Challenge of Gamble are not allowed to be challenged for the next forty-eight hours. However, they are allowed to challenge.
Rule number six: Under no circumstance is either party allowed to cheat, any evidence provided and proven true will result in severe punishment.
Rule number seven: The losing party must abide by winning parties spoils of war. Failure to provide said spoils will result in severe punishment.
Rule number eight: Only a Moderator is allowed to interfere in a Challenge of Gamble; any other person will be severely punished and the Challenge will end instantly. This does not apply to Subscribers.
Rule number nine: The only time a Challenge of Gamble can be called into a draw with no victor is when the Game takes far longer than it should. Any Game exceeding a twenty-four hour time will result in a draw unless the conditions of the game state otherwise.